Beyoncé, ‘Cowboy Carter’ Dominate Google Searches
With the first couple of shows of the Cowboy Carter tour complete, the Beyhive is buzzing this week, and so is Google. According to the search engine’s recent trend report, Beyoncé is the top-trending person in the U.S. over the last seven days, a 110% jump. Bey was also the top-searched artist in the country over the past 24 hours, while the Grammy-winning Cowboy Carter was the top trending album. Finally, searches for “Beyoncé tickets” skyrocketed 250% in the past week. Bey has another four shows in Los Angeles before a three-night run in Chicago.
Meta, Microsoft Stocks Jump After Beating Expectations in Q1
Meta and Microsoft stocks jumped roughly 5% and 6%, respectively, in after-hours trading at the time of this writing after the Big Tech companies exceeded expectations in Q1. Meta saw its quarterly profit increase 35% year-over-year to $16.64 billion, while Microsoft’s total revenue rose 13% from last year to $70 billion. Currently, Microsoft ranks as the second most valuable company in the United States and Meta ranks at No. 6.
PWHL Expands to Seattle for 2025-26 Season
The Professional Women’s Hockey League (PWHL) is officially headed to the Emerald City. Set to begin play in the 2025-26 season, the team will train at the Kraken Community Iceplex and host home games at Climate Pledge Arena in Seattle. The primary color will be emerald green, while its secondary color will be cream. The squad will be known as PWHL Seattle until a permanent name is decided.
Boardroom’s Shlomo Sprung spoke with PWHL executive Amy Scheer about the league’s early success, strategic expansion, and its future plans.
Miu Miu Powers Prada to Strong Quarter
Prada Group reported an extraordinary start to the first quarter of 2025 on Wednesday, sharing that profits rose 13% to €1.34 billion ($1.52 billion), compared to €1.19 billion ($1.35 billion) in Q1 last year. The Italian luxury powerhouse credited Miu Miu for this accomplishment after the brand saw a 60% increase in sales in the first quarter, driven by purchases of leather goods and the label’s expanding footwear offerings.
Kendrick Lamar Makes Rap History on ‘Grand National Tour’
The Grant National Tour is still in its early performances, but Kendrick Lamar is already marking a significant milestone. According to information from Touring Data, Lamar and SZA’s opening night at U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis made $9,124,989 from 47,354 tickets sold at an average price of $192.70. Not only does this surpass Eminem‘s feat of $8,708,390 grossed from a concert in Melbourne, but it also makes the Pulitzer Prize winner the first rapper in history to haul more than $9 million from a single tour stop as either a headliner or co-headliner.
‘Shōgun’ Production for Season 2 Set for January 2026
Shōgun, the historical drama series that picked up 18 Emmy Awards and four Golden Globes in its debut season, is officially coming back for Season 2. According to the FX release, the program is scheduled to begin production in January 2026 in Vancouver and will take place a decade following the storyline in Season 1. Hiroyuki Sanada, who won an Emmy for his portrayal of Lord Yoshii Toranaga, will return and has been promoted to executive producer.
Waymo, Toyota to Bring Self-Driving Tech to Personal Vehicles
Waymo and Toyota have entered a partnership with a goal of developing a new autonomous vehicle platform. Waymo will seek to integrate its technology into Toyota vehicles intended for consumer sales, in addition to escalating the growth and execution of driver assistance and automated driving technologies. Waymo currently operates its robotaxi services in San Francisco, Los Angeles, Phoenix, and Austin.
Charli XCX Tapped to Star In, Produce Next Takashi Miike Film
Charli XCX is putting down the microphone to star in and produce Audition director Takashi Miike‘s latest project. Details for the film remain unknown, but this marks the second feature the award-winning singer is developing through her new Studio365 production company, behind forthcoming A24 movie The Moment directed by Aidan Zamiri.
Duolingo Debuts New Language Courses Powered by AI
Calling it the “largest expansion of content in the company’s history,” Duolingo announced the introduction of 148 new language courses that were developed with generative AI. The educational tech firm said that it took 12 years to create its first 100 courses. This new curriculum primarily supports beginner levels and includes immersive features such as Stories to develop reading comprehension and DuoRadio to focus on listening comprehension.
FIFA Global Citizen Education Fund Aims to Raise $100M
FIFA and Global Citizen announced on Wednesday the FIFA Global Citizen Education Fund, an initiative aimed at raising $100 million to provide children around the world with access to quality education and football. As part of the effort, $1 from every ticket sold in this summer’s FIFA Club World Cup matches will be donated to the project. Grants will be awarded to grassroots organizations in over 200 countries, with half allocated to the FIFA Football for Schools program.
Image: Kevin Mazur / Getty Images for The Recording Academy
